AirTran is not cutting citys because of a non-approved merger with WN. Till ANY merger is approved (and IIRC DFW will stay open till SOC) airlines pretty much run as they would without the merger.

Think about it, FL goes cutting a bunch of routes then the Gov. or Shareholders vote the merger down, then your shareholders become pissed. So just like UA/CO, DL/NW, FL and WN will pretty much act as if they aren't merging.
(pretty much being FL wont be starting a new hub or order 500 airplanes.)

I'll bet the DFW Airport Board is talking to WN, again. They would want to keep the Air Trans flights to all the points they fly from DFW (LVS, BWI, ATL, etc.) DAL cannot support that many more flights and DFW can.

Dropping this route has nothing to do with the merger - otherwise, it would be dropped along with all the other DFW routes, the OO codeshare, and probably other stuff as well. But FL is keeping all of its other DFW routes for the time being, even resuming the "seasonal" BWI-DFW flights in the spring. This is significant because it is the first MKE route that has altogether failed (although a few were really struggling before being downgraded to OO) and could be indicative of the fact that WN/FL at MKE have reached their peak. Take away some of the LGA/DCA flights (since WN will want those slots for other markets) and the whole op degenerates into half of what it is now..

Flying in the middle seat of coach is much better than not flying at all!

FL will drop all of its DFW routes. The Wright Compromise imposes severe penalties on WN if it starts service from DFW: WN would have to give up some obscene number of gates at DAL if it starts service from DFW. I don't have the text in front of me but will try to find it.

Quoting ERJ170 (Reply 7):Don't worry, DFW. You are part of a LONG line of places where FL has come in and then went scurrying out soon afterwards.. i think a lot of their cities has felt this sting before..

Trust me, it's neither a). surprising nor b). new to us. Remember when FL flew from DFW to TPA, FLL, LAX, LAS, and MDW? Yeah, those worked out about as well as Legend Airlines. This MKE cut is hardly shocking; in fact, I kind of forgot it even existed, simply because I expected it to be dropped from the radar in no time.

Quoting ridgid727 (Reply 12):I do believe the Shelby Amendment opened up ICT for service to DAL.

Thanks - I thought it was just Mississippi and his home state of Alabama. Is there anything preventing FL from going to DAL today? I thought the agreement pretty much locked up DAL service to the existing carriers and locked out any new entrants.

Quoting ridgid727 (Reply 15):It is my understanding that if another carrier can negotiate gate space with one of the existing carriers at DAL, they can operate from there. IBut who is going to do that other than WN---?

AA (Eagle) has two unused gates that they lease at DAL. They could theoretically lease them out to other carriers.

However, once the new DAL terminal opens in a few years, AA/Eagle does plan on restarting DAL service from two gates in the new terminal. My bet is that AA will fly to non-DFW hubs (JFK/LGA, ORD, MIA, and LAX) from DAL once Wright is fully repealed on 1/1/2014.

Quoting FWAERJ (Reply 16):AA (Eagle) has two unused gates that they lease at DAL. They could theoretically lease them out to other carriers.

Yes, they do, and would they want to sub-lease them to anyone else? Why would they want to create another competitor in the metroplex? (Kinda like do you ever expect them to sublease VX a gate or two at ORD?)

Quoting texan (Reply 6):WN would have to give up some obscene number of gates at DAL if it starts service from DFW.

Quoting NKOPS (Reply 11):IIRC, WN is not allowed to fly out of DFW until a couple years from now

WN is allowed to fly out of DFW today. For every gate they'd lease at DFW, they'd be required to give one up at DAL. The price for WN to bring more competition to DFW is for WN to accept more competition at DAL... Nothing obscene with that.

On paper, nothing. In the real world, it would be a protracted fight that wouldn't be resolved by the time the merger is completed. If none of the existing tenants are willing to give gate time to a new carrier, it is up to the city, as airport owner/operator, to force one of the existing tenants to accommodate the new entrant, but there's no guarantee that the new tenant will get enough gate time to operate any specific number of flights, or at any specific time of the day. The city is satisfied with the current status quo anyway, and if a new entrant were to ask officially for gate space/time, the city will drag its feet as much as possible, not to mention that whichever tenant the city selects to accommodate the new entrant is likely to sue and argue that another tenant ought to have been selected.

Quoting ridgid727 (Reply 19):Amarillo-DEN can't board many more than that a day Can they?

AMA-DAL is about 200-300 passengers per day each way. (+60 more to DFW)AMA-DEN is about 50.

WN already runs 2 of their 3 MKE-MCI flights through to DAL...and MKE-MCI has typically run load factors in the low 60% range. Having said that, only about 10 passengers flew WNMKE-MCI-DAL. WN's one stop MKE-DAL service generated a 30% higher average fare than FL's nonstop MKE-DFW service.

ICT may see WN service (though I think they'll cancel ICT after the merger), but if WN stays in ICT, I'd bet they don't fly ICT-MKE.

Quoting deltal1011man (Reply 2):Till ANY merger is approved (and IIRC DFW will stay open till SOC) airlines pretty much run as they would without the merger.

Gary Kelly has already said AirTran at DFW will leave once the deal closes. Once the deal closes, I believe AirTran becomes a subsidiary of Southwest (until the two are fully integrated) and any subsidiary of Southwest cannot serve DFW without Southwest having to give up gates at DAL, regardless of whether the two are on a SOC.

The 8-year countdown started when President Bush signed the compromise into law on October 13, 2006, so the Wright Amendment won't go away until October 13, 2014 - which is nearly 4 years from now, not 2.

Quoting SurfandSnow (Reply 5):Dropping this route has nothing to do with the merger - otherwise, it would be dropped along with all the other DFW routes, the OO codeshare, and probably other stuff as well. But FL is keeping all of its other DFW routes for the time being, even resuming the "seasonal" BWI-DFW flights in the spring. This is significant because it is the first MKE route that has altogether failed (although a few were really struggling before being downgraded to OO) and could be indicative of the fact that WN/FL at MKE have reached their peak. Take away some of the LGA/DCA flights (since WN will want those slots for other markets) and the whole op degenerates into half of what it is now..

Dan Webb wrote a piece about SkyWest's contribution to FL's LF in MKE. There are some interesting numbers here -http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thingsinthesky/MKE - DEN would be 11.9% lower without OO feed. You can see where DFW ranked.

Quoting deltal1011man (Reply 2):Till ANY merger is approved (and IIRC DFW will stay open till SOC) airlines pretty much run as they would without the merger.

The requirement that WN give up gates at DAL if it operates at DFW will extend to FL on the date the acquisition is complete, not the SOC date. - it applies to any subsidiary of WN, which is what FL will be between acquisition close date and SOC.

Quoting KC135TopBoom (Reply 3):I'll bet the DFW Airport Board is talking to WN, again. They would want to keep the Air Trans flights to all the points they fly from DFW (LVS, BWI, ATL, etc.) DAL cannot support that many more flights and DFW can.

The "five-party agreement" that imposes the penalties on WN if it operates at DFW (or any airport within 80 miles of DAL) is now enshrined in Federal law (the "Wright Amendment Reform Act of 2006"), so any attempt by the DFW board to change the terms would require an act of Congress, and would be vigorously opposed by American.

Quoting ruuxxv (Reply 18):BTW, it's a violation of US antitrust law for AirTran and Southwest to coordinate schedules or fares prior to the merger.

Theoretically, you're right. As a practical matter, unless someone wants to do an in-depth investigation and find a "smoking gun" (e-mail, minutes of an AirTran management meeting where WN told them to do it, etc.), it'd be very hard to prove, especially if AirTran management acts unilaterally and appears to just be preparing for the merger...right now, they're safe in acting as if the merger will be approved by the stockholders and the Federal Government.

Probably moot anyway, since it appears that the route is not performing well and is being canceled on its own merits (or lack thereof).

25 ruuxxv
: DOJ and teams, (fleets, gaggles, covens?) of lawyers will be going through internal emails, documents, phone records, etc at both Southwest and AirTr

26 Cubsrule
: Since when does DoJ go through phone records or internal emails for every merger?

27 USAirways787
: I can tell you for a fact our MKE-DFW route has always been an underperformer, the cancellation has zip to do with the buyout. It goes out in the morn

28 SlcDeltaRUmd11
: I do agree this has to do more with DFW/LUV than anything else. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the new WN gives up quite a few of the MKE flights a